Founders

Dr. Charles Carruthers was born in Avening, Ontario in 1886. He lost his sight when he was five years old due to an undiagnosed illness. Dr. Carruthers attended the Ontario School for the Blind from age five to 14 and then Woodstock College, Pickering College and the University of Toronto where he earned a BA. He went on to qualify for the Bar at Osgoode Hall, but instead of pursuing law, became interested in osteopathy and attended a School of Osteopathy in Iowa. Carruthers returned to Toronto and set up a practice that he ran for over 40 years.

Dr. Carruthers taught braille to First World War Veterans who returned without vision. He was President of the Canadian National Library for the Blind at the time of its amalgamation with the CNIB National Library. He was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967 and was also President of the International Association of Blind Osteopaths. Dr. Carruthers was the last surviving founder of CNIB and died in 1976 at the age of 90.